There is good news all around us and the project

It’s been a little over a month since we landed in Seattle and while things have slowed down for us considerably, we’re not without some great news.  First, the crew:

Dominique is aboard Bagan, running the program from Seattle.  Bagan came through our five month trek basically without a scratch.  The few small repairs and upkeep that she’s in need of are being overseen by Dom and I rest easy knowing that all 57 tons of her are in excellent hands.

Chauncey has gone back to Denver and is studying for the entrance exams for  his Master’s Degree in Business.  We chat often and we both agree that being back in the “real” world has been an “odd” adjustment.

Sefton is also back in Denver and will be picking up where he left off at The University of Colorado, Denver. He’s planning on moving into a business major but will be “minoring” in music.

As you may remember, Greg has been back here in RI for quite a while now catching up where he left off with his business Aquidneck Mooring Company.

I’m back here in Newport, trying to catch up and stay one step ahead.  When you leave on a trip of this extent, no matter how well you think you have all the bases covered there are always a few small items which, in your prolonged absence, grow rapidly into large, snarling, growling issues.  I think I can speak for all of us when I say when we find that we’re having one of “those” days we can manage a smile and think “At least I’m not stuck in the ice in The Passage!”.

And “Bagan”, that wonderfully amazing vessel who so bravely got us to and through The Northwest Passage (Georgs Kolesnikovs writes in Circumnavigator Magazine http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/ that she is the first production powerboat to do the trip) has been invited to strut her stuff and be on display in the Seattle Boat Show late January.  If you’re in the neighborhood here’s more info about the show:http://www.seattleboatshow.com

As promised in the last blog, there is good news all around us and the project.  I can offer one small tidbit without divulging too much; with some luck and a bit of hard work, you may soon be able to watch our experience of this past summer on something other than your computer screen.  I’ll stop with that as I’ve said too much!

Also, today I received an email from Peter Janssen at MotorBoating Magazine  (Peter and MotorBoating published four articles which I wrote during the trip.  If you haven’t had a chance to read them try to hunt them down as they contain some amazing pictures which I don’t think we have on this site):

From Peter:

“Hi Sprague,

Just FYI, I entered your story Mission Accomplished in the Boating Writers International awards competition… Keep your fingers crossed. They announce the winners at the Miami show in February…

Best,
Peter”

More later!!
ST